Intellectual Property Policy

Last updated:

Printed mugs live and die by their artwork, so intellectual property matters a great deal to a shop like Mug Loft. This policy explains whose rights we respect and how: what we will and will not print, how we handle personalisation requests that touch on brands or characters, how rights holders can report a concern, and how we protect our own name and designs. For copyright notices specifically, the step-by-step process is on our DMCA page. For any intellectual property question, email support@mugloft.com with “IP concern” in the subject line.

Intellectual property in one glance

  • Our designs: created for Mug Loft, licensed from their creators, or based on public-domain material.
  • What we will not print: brand logos, sports team marks, characters, celebrity likenesses, song lyrics and other people’s artwork without permission.
  • Personalisation: you confirm you have the right to use the text you enter; we may decline requests that infringe.
  • Reporting a concern: email us with the details listed in section 6; we acknowledge within 1 business day.
  • Single-brand shop: there are no third-party sellers on mugloft.com; every listing is our own.

1. The kinds of rights involved

Intellectual property is a broad term. On a mug shop it usually means one of four things:

  • Copyright protects original creative works: illustrations, hand lettering, patterns, photographs, poems, quotes from recent books and song lyrics.
  • Trademarks protect names, logos and slogans that identify a business or product, such as a coffee chain’s logo, a sports league’s team marks or a TV show’s title treatment.
  • Rights of publicity protect a person’s name, image and likeness from being used commercially without consent, which matters for celebrity faces and names.
  • Design rights and trade dress protect the distinctive look of a product or its packaging.

We take all four seriously, both in the designs we sell and in the personalisation we print for customers.

2. How our designs are sourced

Every design in the Mug Loft range must be one of the following before it goes on sale: an original design created for us, a design licensed from the artist who created it, or a design built from material that is in the public domain, such as historical botanical illustrations whose copyright has expired. Our rule is to keep a record of where each design came from so we can answer questions quickly. Generic words and common phrases (“Coffee first”, “World’s okayest runner”) are not owned by anyone in themselves, but the particular artwork, lettering and layout around them can be, so we treat the finished design as the thing that needs to be original or licensed.

3. What we will not print

Whether in our own range or as customer personalisation, we do not print the following without written permission from the rights holder:

  • logos, brand names used as decoration, or packaging designs of other companies;
  • names, crests, mascots or colours used as marks by professional, college or national sports teams and leagues;
  • cartoon, film, TV, game, comic or anime characters, and their catchphrases where those are protected;
  • photographs or likenesses of celebrities and public figures, or their names used to suggest an endorsement;
  • song lyrics, poems and passages from books that are still under copyright;
  • artwork, photos or lettering found online that you did not create and do not have a licence to use.

We know this rules out some fun ideas. A mug with a favourite team’s logo would make a great gift, but printing it without a licence would be unfair to the team and could expose both you and us to a legal claim. We are happy to suggest an original alternative, such as the team’s colours with a personal message, that captures the same spirit without borrowing someone else’s mark.

4. Personalisation and your responsibility

When you enter text in a personalisation field, you confirm that you have the right to use it. Most personalisation is simple and entirely yours: a name, a date, an inside joke. Where a request clearly involves someone else’s protected work, our team will decline it before printing, explain why, and either print an alternative you approve or refund the item in full within 7 days. Declining a request is never a judgement about you; it is about protecting the people who created the work.

Examples of what is usually fine: “Grandma Rosa’s Coffee”, “Est. 06.14.2026”, “Mr & Mrs Okafor”, a short original poem you wrote. Examples we will decline: a request to add a coffee chain’s logo, a team’s name and crest, a famous lyric, or a cartoon character’s face.

5. If you are a rights holder

If you believe a product, image or text on mugloft.com infringes your rights, we want to hear from you. Because we are a single-brand shop, your notice comes directly to the people who decide what we sell; there is no marketplace layer in between.

6. How to report a concern

Email support@mugloft.com with “IP concern” in the subject line, and include:

  1. your name, organisation (if any), postal address, phone number and email address;
  2. the right you are relying on, such as a trademark registration number and country, or a description of the copyrighted work;
  3. the exact URL of each product or page concerned, and which element on it you are referring to;
  4. a short explanation of why you believe the use infringes your rights;
  5. a statement that you are the rights holder or authorised to act for them, and that the information in your report is accurate;
  6. your signature, which can be your typed full name.

For copyright, please follow the specific format on our DMCA page, which includes the statements US law requires.

7. What we do with a report

Handling of intellectual property reports
Stage Action Timing
Receipt Acknowledge and give a reference Within 1 business day
Assessment Review the right claimed and the listing, and check our licence records Promptly
Interim action Hide the listing and pause printing while we assess, when the report is credible As soon as practical
Outcome Remove the design permanently, or explain why we believe our use is licensed or lawful After assessment
Customers Contact customers with unprinted orders of a removed design and offer an alternative or a full refund At removal

If we believe our use is licensed, we will share the relevant details with you where we can, so the matter can be settled directly and quickly.

8. Common personalisation questions

Can I put my company’s logo on a mug?

If it is your own company and you are authorised to use its logo, tell us before ordering. Our personalisation fields accept text rather than uploaded logos, so logo printing is not something we currently offer through the checkout. We will tell you honestly whether we can help.

Can I print my favourite team’s name?

Team names used as marks are usually protected trademarks. We can print a personal message in your team’s colours, or a phrase that celebrates your town or your game-day ritual without using the team’s marks.

Can I use a quote from a famous person?

Very old quotes from people who died long ago are often in the public domain, while lines from recent books, films and songs are usually protected. When we are not sure, we will suggest an alternative wording rather than risk printing protected text.

Can I use a photo of a celebrity or a character?

No. Likenesses of celebrities and characters from films, TV, games and comics are protected, and our personalisation does not support photo uploads of that kind.

9. Parody, fan art and “inspired by” designs

We do not sell fan art of protected characters or designs that imitate a brand closely enough to be confused with it, even when they are presented as parody or as “inspired by”. Parody can be lawful in some circumstances, but the line is hard to draw on a product, so we keep well clear of it. Our designs aim to be original enough that nobody has to wonder where they came from.

10. Public domain and expired works

Some of the most beautiful mug designs come from works that are free for everyone to use: vintage botanical plates, old maps, classic patterns and very old literature. When we build a design from public-domain material, we use a source whose public-domain status we can document, and we add our own layout, colour and lettering. The underlying old work stays free for others to use too; what we claim as ours is only the new design we created around it.

11. Trademarks on the product itself

Product descriptions sometimes need to mention other brands to be useful, for example to say that a mug fits under a particular style of coffee machine. When we do that, we use the name only to describe compatibility, never to suggest a partnership or endorsement, and we never put another company’s logo on our product pages. If you are a brand owner and believe a mention on our site goes beyond that, tell us and we will change the wording.

12. Our own intellectual property

The Mug Loft name and logo, the text and layout of this website, our product photography and our original mug designs belong to Mug Loft or are used under licence. You are welcome to share links to our pages and products, and to post photos of mugs you have bought. You may not copy our designs onto other products, reuse our product photos or text to sell other goods, or use the Mug Loft name in a way that suggests we endorse something we do not. If you would like to use our content for anything beyond personal sharing, ask us first at support@mugloft.com.

If you see our designs or photos being used elsewhere, for example on another online store, a short email with the link is genuinely helpful. We read every one.

13. Artists and licensing

If you are an illustrator, letterer or pattern designer and would like your work on mugs, we are interested in hearing from you. Send a short introduction and a link to your portfolio. We do not accept unsolicited design files as attachments, and sending an idea does not create any agreement, but we reply to every genuine enquiry.

14. Related policies and contact

See also: DMCA for copyright notices, Terms of Service for the rules that apply to personalisation and site use, and our Privacy Policy for how we handle the contact details you send with a report. Contact: support@mugloft.com, or Mug Loft, 148 S Wisconsin St, Burlington, WI 53105, US.